ATHENS, TX: Last week, Athens Economic Development Corporation received two awards at the Business Retention & Expansion International Annual Conference, along with receiving two additional awards at the Texas Economic Development Council Mid-Year Conference.

AEDC was recognized by BREI for the Freeport tax exemption project receiving the Award of Excellence for outstanding community with a population under 20,000, as well as receiving the 2018 Impact Award.

“The key for success in this project was the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreements, or revenue protection agreements,” said AEDC Executive Director Lisa Denton. “This was the mechanism to protect the taxing entities from any sudden loss of revenue. While not new, the PILOT agreements were the innovative part of this project, allowing for success in the end.”

At TEDC’s Mid-Year Conference, AEDC received Merit Recognition for Workforce Excellence in the population category less than 15,000. “One of the four primary goals of AEDC is talent development, to make Athens a destination for technical training,” Denton said. “Over the last year, AEDC has partnered with various agencies to address local workforce needs through training, a job fair, education and exploring the creation of a regional technical training center in Athens.”

AEDC also received the Economic Excellence award for the third consecutive year at TEDC’s Mid-Year Conference.

The objectives of TEDC’s Economic Excellence Recognition program are to provide recognition to economic development agencies that meet a threshold of professionalism, encourage professional staff membership and involvement in TEDC. AEDC was one of 39 communities recognized.

“The board and staff place a high value on professional development and accountability,” said Denton. “To receive these prestigious acknowledgements for AEDC’s efforts is quite an honor.”